Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1887-03-30
A WONDERFUL CASE
From the New York Sun.


st had been g. medical student at
R College for about two years, >"
said a gray-haired doctor who was
one OF the party around the cabin
stove, ssWhen I met with q singular ad-
venture. 1t was forty years ago, and
only q few lines concerning it were ever
published. The state prison was To-
Gated in the same city, and although
there was no law to that effect, as is
the case now, all bodies of dead con-
victs not claimed by friends were turn
ed over to our college for subjects. 1t
sometimes happened, however, that
we did not want them, as we drew
from other localities, and the classes
were much fewer In number than now.
At the time speak OF we had three or
four subjects, and would not want any
more for weeks.
"One day-it was IL June-I receiv-
ed note requesting me to call on g.
convict at the prison named James
Harvey. He was q man only 20
years of age, and had escaped the gal
lows by SCRATCH to be sentenced to
solitary confinement for life. Judges
still sentence men to solitary confne-
ment, but it is we'll known that the
sentence Is not carried out. After g.
brief period in dark cell the convict
is set to work with the other prison
ers and treated just the same. At
that time, however, solitary con6ne-
ment was q dungeon darker than mid
night, with leave to walk in q corridor
lighted by lamps half an hour every
third day. Harvey was q stout, ro
bust fellow, with O. constitution like
iron, and had been in prison over two
years when he sent for me. Some in
f1uential friends of his had interceded
with the Governor. and Harvey him
self had saved q keeper from being
killed by an insane convict, and IN
conseQ uence the terms of his sentence
had been modified and mitigated. He
was permitted to have the run of g.
corridor, an ordinary cell was allotted
to him, and part of the time he car
ried the meals to the men still in the
dungeons. There was no possible
chance for him to escape, and, as he
had apparently resigned himself to his
fate, no one suspected him OF such an
intention. He had got g. note to me
on the excuse that he had some i'm
portant matters to reveal regarding O.
robbery perpetrated on my father,
then dead. I went to the prison sup
posing that was the convict's sole OBJ
ject. [ was permitted to talk with
him with an iron grating between US
and keeper sitting q few feet away to
see that did not pass in any article
.Harney's boldness filled me with
astonishment. He began by stating
that he had heard was an enthusiast
tic student of anatomy, and that /
had written two or three articles for a
medical magazine on the subject of
suspended animation and frances.
This was a fact; but as they had been
written and published after Harney's
imprisonment, and he was supposed
to be dead to the world, could not
understand how he had become &C.
quainted with the fact. He put his
proposition entirely on the ground of
medical science, and it was no more
nor less than that he should die and
his body should be turned over to our
college. He stipulated tt at his body
should not go into the vat where the
subjects are kept for twenty-four
hours after being received, and that /
should personally watch over it for
that length of timo. 1t was only after
q second visit that | was enabled to
fully comprehend his plans. He had
discovered that he could die at will
and return to life at any hour not
over day and night distant. He
said that he had tried it successfully
up to ten hours on several occasions,
and felt sure that he could make the
time twice or three times as long. A
fellow-prisoner who had observed him
while in this state had asserted that
it was perfect counterfeit of death,
the heart ceasing it's pulsations, the
limbs growing cold and rigid, and the
pulse being too faint to be felt. He
appealed to my enthusiasm in medical
science to make his escape from g. life
sentence, and though [ was at first
firmly opposed to the idea he brought
forward SO many arguments, and put
them to me SO keenly, that was won
over.
"'Medical science must have dead
bodies to secure benefits for the living,
he argued. 4 am practical demon
stration of medical theory you hold
You believe that human life can be
temporarily suspended, and you have
been ridiculed for your assertions.
Here is the opportunity to prove
your theory. l will die. Ali the doc
tors will pronounce me dead. You
shall restore me to life. The case will
make You famous